In more detail
‘Social media’ means any way people have of having conversations in public. It’s different to broadcast media (TV and radio) because it’s conversational (two-way and participative); it’s different to private correspondence (letters and private emails) because it is intended to be public.
Not Only Online
The internet has created more ways people can have conversations in public. We often talk about social media as if it only takes place using the internet. The truth is, however, that not all communication using computers is social media; and not all social media uses computers. In fact people have been doing social media – having conversations in public – for thousands of years before computers were invented. Most of us probably still do more social media face- to-face than on online.
Three examples of social media (conversations in public) which don’t rely on computers:
- debates – formal and less formal, a debate is a conversation with some added rules and a subject. It can take place in Parliament or the Council Chamber. Less formal debates happen in church halls, community centres, clubs, schools, colleges, barbers’ shops, in women’s groups and anywhere people gather together. Wherever we gather to discuss a set subject in public in an ordered way is a forum for social media. Giving a presentation isn’t social media (it’s one way); giving a presentation and then enabling people to debate it is.
- posters – words or pictures stuck up in a public place can be social media. At meetings, for example, having a wall where participants can post their ideas works on the same principle as Twitter (tweets – posts on Twitter are limited to 140 characters, which is about the amount you can fit on a clearly written post-it note).
- community conversations – a dialogue with fewer rules than a debate but where participants share a common interest and/or community. Community conversations are focused on a particular issue or idea and enable participants to share what they know and think about it to improve understanding or to take action. Community conversation is used in workshops and ‘camps’ (extended sessions which may work like a number of workshops on a related subject designed to produce new insights and solutions to problems).
But Online Too
Social media doesn’t just mean online communication, but the internet and digital technology provides new ways of having conversations in public which have, in a short time, overtaken some more traditional means. Three examples of internet social media:
Facebook is the default online social network – not ‘young’ or ‘nerdy’, but mainstream. Most people with an online profile have a Facebook login. If you Google someone’s name, their Facebook listing will often be the highest ranked link to them. If you use Facebook, you will interact with other people so as to have conversations in public made up by, for example, posting updates including pictures and videos; friending people; reading, commenting on and favouring what they say. As with other social media, using Facebook effectively depends on listening to and responding to what other people say.
Facebook has the most members, but it is not the most active network in terms of messages shared between members – that’s currently Instagram (which is a messaging application rather than a social network – though the distinction between the two is blurry). Although, Facebook has most members, its members may be more active on other social networks, for example, Twitter or WhatsApp.
Twitter has fewer members than Facebook, but you will find many of the key people and groups in your locality and in the city are active members. On its own, having a Twitter ID will achieve very little. Twitter is even more dependent on interaction than Facebook. You interact in Twitter by ‘following’ other people (which is like listening to them); posting ‘tweets’ (140 character updates which can include links to documents, pictures, videos or other tweets etc.) and commenting on, and re-tweeting, what other people say.
Blogging – means using the Web to keep a log of what’s going on; what you think of it; and inviting other people to comment or share. If you regularly post on Facebook or use your Twitter account to tweet and/or use other platforms like Pinterest (to build up a gallery of images) or YouTube (to present video you have taken), then you’re already (kind of) blogging. As a local leader, you might want to be able to engage with people more flexibly and you can do this by setting up a place with your own World Wide Web address – a blog.
Note that posting your thoughts and actions on a blog isn’t social media (it’s like a presentation – one way); but enabling people to comment, ask questions, suggest, challenge or add to what you’ve said, is using your blog in a conversational way.
| Key Facts:
Social media is the means by which we have conversations in public. We have always had ways of doing this: things like debates, posters and public meetings. Now we also have a massive range of digital social media available, neighbourhood improvement should harness the pwoer of Facebook, Twitter and community blogging? |
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| created: 2016-06-18 12:04:05 | by: admin | status: f published |